Berlitz Pocket Guide Madeira (Travel Guide eBook)

by Berlitz Publishing Company

The island’s irrigation system is composed of some 2,100km (1,300 miles) of channels.

Golf This is a year-round sport in Madeira. The island has 45 holes of championship golf divided between two courses, both of which are esteemed for their scenic beauty.

the prestigious Madeira Island Ultra Trail (MIUT; www.madeiraultratrail.com). The most challenging MIUT category is a hefty 115km (70-mile) course with steep climbs, varied terrain and unpredictable weather conditions – not for the faint of heart.

there is an artificial beach with imported golden sand at Calheta (and Machico),

Beach lovers should hop islands to the 9km (5.6 miles) of sand at Porto Santo (though sunshine is only really guaranteed June to August). You can fly with tap/Air Portugal (15-minute flight) or take the ferry, which leaves daily at 8am

Divers are in luck in Madeira, since one of Europe’s first underwater nature reserves was created along the Garajau coastline. Besides abundant, colourful fish, divers can see shipwrecks.

A single dive costs around €30, while a novice-diving course, including equipment hire, will run to €250 or more.

Madeira Story Centre in Funchal (for more information, click here), with computers and interactive games based on Madeira’s history.

2 July ‘Rediscovery of Madeira’ and the first landing of Portuguese sailors in 1420, celebrated in Machico.

For breakfast (pequeno almoço), most Madeirans start their day with a sweet pastry and coffee.

Vinho Verde (literally green wine), popular all over Portugal, is named for its youth, rather than its colour, and has a slight fizz. It goes well with simple fish and seafood dishes.

When the island was first settled during the 15th century, Prince Henry ordered Zarco to plant vines, brought to the island from Crete. Although wine was not planned as a major export, it became one of the most important products of the island, thanks to a combination of its notable quality and Madeira’s position on the shipping lanes to the East and West Indies.

Oxidisation during the heating process renders the wine virtually indestructible. A bottle of Madeira can be kept uncorked for many months without suffering any deterioration, even when other types of fortified wine (such as port) would moulder quickly under such conditions. For this reason, there are Madeira wines from the early 1800s that are entirely drinkable today.

The best, however, are Vintage wines, bottled after ageing in oak casks for a minimum of 20 years.

If you really want to impress your friends back home, buy a 75ml bottle of 1875 D’Oliveira Malvasia Madeira Family Reserve for a mere €500 or so. If your budget doesn’t stretch to that, you can pick up more recent vintages for around €20.

It used to have one of the shortest passenger runways in Europe until it was enlarged in 2000.

occasionally, in really bad weather, flights have to be diverted to Porto Santo.

There are frequent daily flights from Madeira to the airport at Porto Santo (tel: 291-520 700). All these flights are operated by TAP Air Portugal (www.flytap.com). There are also some direct flights to Porto Santo from Lisbon and Oporto.

you can usually count on an average of six hours sunshine each day.

Madeira has long been a place where visitors dress up for tea and formal dinners. There is less formality these days – shorts and T-shirts are fine during the day – but Reid’s formal restaurants still require men to wear a dark suit and tie.

Although Madeira is one of the safest places in the world for tourists, factors such as poverty (which does exist here, especially in small villages) inevitably make temptation irresistible for some, and there have been some problems with drug users mugging walkers along lonely levada trails.

The rules are the same as in the rest of continental Europe:

The standard current is 220-volt, 50Hz AC. For US appliances, 220v transformers and plug adaptors are needed.

The emergency number for police, fire or ambulance is 112. Funchal hospital has a 24-hour emergency ward;

www.portugalgay.pt features a gay and lesbian travel guide, with information in English and other languages.

The flight time from London to Madeira is approximately 3 hours 30 minutes, and from Lisbon to Madeira about 1 hour 30 minutes.

A good way of seeing Madeira is by coach or minibus tour.

For more serious illness or injury, Hospital Cruz de Carvalho (Avenida Luis de Camoes 57; tel: 291-705 600; www.sesaram.pt) is the island’s largest hospital and has English-speaking staff.

EU nationals with a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC), obtainable online at www.ehic.org.uk, can receive free emergency treatment at Social Security and Municipal hospitals. Private hospitals are expensive. If you don’t take the EHIC card with you, you must pay on the spot and claim on your travel insurance later.

EHIC

The most likely health problems will be due to an excess of sun or alcohol.

Madeiran tap water (água) is safe and tastes pretty good.

Mosquitoes are present in summer, so buy repellent or a plug-in d...

Few maps are up to date because of the rapid pace of road building. The best map available in the UK is the Madeira Tour and Trail Map.

Two useful online publications are the Madeira Live (www.madeira-live.com) and the Madeira Times (www.themadeiratimes.com), which both provide information on weather, transport, events and local news.

Essential Madeira (www.essential-madeira.com) is a glossy lifestyle magazine, available both online and in print.

Madeira has its own TV channel and also receives programmes from mainland Portugal.

Automatic machines are the easiest method of obtaining euros and provide by far the best exchange rates.

Most businesses close for a one- to two-hour lunch break. Shops and offices are generally open 9am–1pm, 3–7pm Mon–Fri, and 9am–1pm Sat.

Shopping centres and supermarkets stay open every day from 10am to 10pm.

Mailboxes are painted bright red for second-class post and blue (Correio Azul) for first-class (next day delivery).

Note that some intra-city and inter-city buses have identical numbers – for example, the orange town bus No. 20 to Monte is not the same as the green/cream island bus No. 20 to Santo da Serra.

Bus companies in Funchal have introduced a Giro card system, which costs €5 from automatic machines around the city or from authorised sellers. These cards are rechargeable, like the London Oyster cards, and need to be validated when you get on the bus.

For many popular tourist trips, there is a government-set flat fare, which, by law, has to be displayed inside the taxi. Otherwise, the meter begins at €2 (€2.40 between 10pm and 7am, Sat–Sun and holidays).

Portugal’s country code is 351. Within Madeira, the local area code, 291, must be dialled, even for local calls (nine digits in total).

If your GSM phone is unlocked (which you can have done locally), you may use a local pay-as-you-go SIM card for cheaper local calls, which you can buy from provider networks Vodafone, MEO or NOS.

Madeira operates both winter (GMT + 0) and summer (GMT + 1) time periods, so Madeira is on the same time as the UK. From the last Sunday in March until the last Sunday in October, the clocks are moved one hour ahead.

Hotel and restaurant bills are generally inclusive, but an additional tip of 5–10 percent is common and even expected in restaurants.

Public toilets in Funchal are rare, and not usually recommended. The best place to find a clean toilet is in a large hotel or a restaurant or bar (out of courtesy you should buy a drink, or at least ask permission). ‘Ladies’ is marked Senhoras and ‘Gents’ Homens or Senhores. Senhoras and Senhores are easily confused.

Madeira has its own website – Madeira Tourism (www.visitmadeira.pt) – with plenty of information.

EU nationals (except those from the UK) may enter with an identity card.